John Herdman had talked about the need for Canada to play more top-quality nations. Well, how’s this for a dangling carrot?

There had already been whispers of the next Copa América tournament in 2024 being expanded and welcoming teams from CONCACAF, and now the whole tournament is heading for the United States.

CONCACAF announced on Friday, January 27 that it and its South American federation counterpart CONMEBOL have come to an agreement that will see the US host the 2024 Copa América.

In addition, the six best CONCACAF teams, as determined by their 2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League rankings, will be invited as guests.

There have already been discussions with some potential venues in the US, according to ESPN’s sources, which could potentially include several of the 2026 World Cup host cities in the States. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tannenwald, the USMNT will not get automatic qualification for the 2024 tournament as host, and will therefore still have to qualify through the 2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League like all the other teams from this region.

Inclusion in the Copa América will allow the US and any other nations from outside CONMEBOL to gain priceless experience playing against some opponents who, without any hyperbole, can fairly be described as some of the very best teams in international football, such as the likes of the World Cup’s most successful nation Brazil and the 2021 defending champions and 2022 World Cup winners Argentina.

The Copa has historically invited guest countries to participate. The U.S. has taken part four times before, most recently in the Copa América Centenario tournament in 2016, when it hosted the tournament and reached the semi-final.

Talk of the US and potentially Canada being invited first surfaced during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Participation in 2024 would be a golden opportunity for Canada, who were invited to the tournament two decades ago but pulled out of the tournament at the last minute. They accepted the invitation to be part of the 2001 Copa América, but owing to security concerns in Colombia, Canada had to withdraw.

Herdman said last month after the World Cup that CanMNT “needed more games against [a high-level] opponent” to better prepare for their Qatari campaign, where they faced former world No. 1 team Belgium and 2018 World Cup runners-up and 2022 semi-finalists Croatia.

“That preparation to have got those extra games against big teams in Europe or South America. We have to play big nations, big games, and feel what it’s like to be under the pressure of these quality players,” he added.

The Copa América would certainly fit that bill. This is a massive, priceless opportunity for CanMNT and the continued development of Canadian soccer and a huge target to aim for over the next 12 months.

If the thought of playing the defending world champions doesn’t motivate you, nothing will.